1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to dust collecting apparatus and, more particularly, to a dust collecting apparatus that is self supporting in a storage position.
2. Background Art
Dust collecting apparatus, generally identified as dust pans, are normally designed with aesthetics taking precedence over utility. For example, U.S. Design Pat. No. 54,891, to Brule, discloses a dust pan with a flat bottom wall and a dust retaining wall extending upwardly from and bounding three sides of the flat bottom wall. The spaced, side wall portions of the dust retaining walls increase progressively in height from a leading portion of the bottom wall, whereat a lip is formed, towards a rear wall portion which carries a handle intermediate its height.
The most convenient manner of storing the dust pan is to lean the dust pan upon the lip so that the flat bottom wall is oriented substantially vertically. However, because the Brule structure is not self supporting, a vertical abutment such as a wall is required against which the rear wall can be leaned. For reasons of stability, the lip is normally placed a distance away from the abutment before the dust pan is leaned. In the case of the Brule dust pan, the angle of inclination of the bottom wall may be such that the handle abuts the wall before the upper, free edge of the rear wall. This may keep the dust pan precariously situated.
The location of the handle on the Brule dust pan also complicates hanging storage. Normally, a wall hanger is directed through the ring at the end of the handle. Because the ring is offset vertically with respect to the flat bottom wall from the upper edge of the rear wall, an undesirably long hanger may be required to engage the ring and at the same time allow the upper edge of the rear wall to abut the supporting wall. In the event that too short a hanger is used, the pan will tend to pivot so that the ring pulls away from the hanger.
A still further drawback with the Brule dust pan is that the sloping side walls limit the dust containing capacity. A substantial amount of useable storage space is eliminated primarily in the interest of improving the aesthetics of the dust pan.